Mexico cites major interest in oil reform, including from China

PARIS May 5 (Reuters) - The Mexican government's opening of
its oil and gas industry is attracting major interest from
investors worldwide, including companies from China and
Singapore, Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Monday.

After passing a reform in December to end a 75-year oil and
gas monopoly held by state oil producer Pemex,
President Enrique Pena Nieto last week sent to Congress
so-called secondary laws that will flesh out the rules for the
shake-up of the industry.

Guajardo said companies from all around the globe had been
following the government's efforts to open up the world's 10th
biggest producer of crude oil to investors.

"Basically, Singaporean companies, Chinese companies,
European companies, Norway, the Americas, the U.S. obviously.
There is a lot of interest," he told Reuters television in
Paris.

He did not give further details but said investors had been
very eager to see the energy secondary laws emerge.

The government had hoped to pass the secondary laws before
the most recent session of Congress ended on April 30, but
disputes with the opposition delayed the process.

Pena Nieto's Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, now
hopes to win approval of the legislation by the end of June.
(Reporting by Axel Threlfall; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)